If you’ve ever visited Portugal, chances are you’ve sat down on a sun-soaked terrace to enjoy the quintessential combination of a bica and pastel de nata. Whether in the squares of Lisbon, beachside in the Algarve, or overlooking the vineyards of the Douro Valley, you likely missed one of the most characteristically Portuguese pieces of modern design. Had you stood up and looked closely, you'd have noticed a pattern repeated across the entirety of this small Iberian country. Around nearly every espresso-laden table sits the curvilinear craftsmanship of a simple, elegant shape. It is the cultural seating motif known regionally as the Gonçalo Chair, or more plainly, the Portuguese Chair.

The first prototype was born alongside parts for fruit juice extractors and machine belt clamps, inside a small Lisbon workshop in the post-war 1940s. While working on various contraptions, craftsman Gonçalo Rodrigues dos Santos built a new tool for his metalworking arsenal  — a machine that allowed for the bending of iron tubes. That industrial innovation gave rise to the distinct bones of his namesake chair.

Two pieces of iron tubing are wound through the device and conjoined to create the curved frame. Rear legs flow upward through the arms and contour to cradle the back, while front legs curve rearward to form the seat. The molding of the metal reduced the need for weaker welding points, creating a hardy and easily stackable arrangement. It wasn't long before the design became emblematic of terrace-living across the country.

After decades lining the Avenida da Liberdade and spreading across restaurants in the historic Baixa district, Gonçalo's design exchanged hands through generations before landing in the lap of an ambitious young designer. Like many Portuguese men of his generation, Alexandre Caldas had always dreamed of working with his hands — a dream he imagined lived inside the engine bays of vintage cars. It didn't. But the path that rerouted him would keep his hands oil-stained all the same.

Caldas, now in his forties with silver-streaked hair, was fifteen when he first encountered the intricacies of furniture design. His education came through osmosis when his father purchased the original production factory of the Portuguese Chair. By eighteen, he was working the factory floor full time, where he met the man he still calls Master Serafim — Gonçalo's own apprentice, and the keeper of his secrets.

Through his father and Master Serafim, Caldas continued developing the design, including producing and selling the chair at the 1998 Lisbon World's Fair Exposition. "I realize that was the period when I was fully engaged with the chair," he said. "I ate, breathed, and dreamed about it 24/7."

The years that followed brought discord between Caldas and his father. "At some point, our relationship was hit by a generational gap and I decided to back away from the chairs," he said. In true rebellious fashion, he channeled the craftsman's spirit into skateboarding — designing and producing the first all-Portuguese-made longboards. Three years on four wheels later, the prodigal son returned to furniture. This time, on his own terms.

In 2013, AROUNDtheTREE was launched. Armed with design expertise and a deep love for his heritage, Caldas began refining the cultural staple he had grown up around. He took Gonçalo's bones and gave them new life in solid wood, naming the model in honor of its lineage: the Portuguese Roots Chair. 

Caldas kept the soul intact but turned to material for a refined polish. Species of walnut, ash, beech, and oak give the chairs organic life, finished with natural oils that allow that life to breathe throughout the grain.

Though AROUNDtheTREE still crafts every piece in Portugal, the wood itself is imported, primarily from the United States and France. It's a change born of necessity. Portugal's forests have suffered under what Caldas describes as generations of administrative neglect, an issue thrust onto the international stage following the deadly fires of 2017. "Even though we have a great tradition in wood-working, the reality is that numerous administrations didn't care for the forest," he said. "And for that reason, we have difficulties finding quality wood in our country."

Despite the need to import wood, Caldas turned inward for one material the country is renowned for exporting — not the red wine that accompanied your salted cod, but the cork from the stopper that plugs it. Portugal produces roughly half of the world's cork supply, exporting over a billion dollars' worth annually. Caldas uses the fire and liquid-resistant material to add another layer of Portuguese identity to the design, while giving each piece a luxurious comfort through its suede-like touch.

Caldas didn't stop there. He appointed another Portuguese artisan to collaborate on a limited-edition version of the Roots chair: his mother. A seasoned craftsperson who worked in one of Portugal's famed ceramics factories, Maria de Ludres Paulos added her touch through a traditional labyrinthine hand-painting associated with the distinct blue hue of Portuguese azulejos.

Caldas's design sensibility extends well beyond the chair that made his name. AROUNDtheTREE currently houses twenty designs in its furniture portfolio, including a spacious workstation, an arachnid-like lamp, and an inconceivably balanced dining table. 

The roots planted long before Caldas have begun to show above ground. The Roots Chair won a Silver Award at the A'Design Awards the year after the company launched. From 2017 through 2019, AROUNDtheTREE was a featured partner at the Lisbon Web Summit, where industry leaders debated the future of technology seated in Caldas's wooden creations. His chair now sits alongside a Gonçalo original in Portugal's National Museum of Design and Fashion. His pieces fill the hotels, restaurants, and homes of aesthetes across the country — and increasingly, beyond it.

"We want the company to rise like a tree," Caldas said. "With strong roots to support all the weight of the growing branches."